Overzealous
by Jem Tiers
Summary: In the enchanted land of Zeal, anything can happen. Love, lust, and some crazy battles send the group into a story they never thought would happen. There's a ton of pairings in here, so hopefully I got one of your favorites.
1. Chapter 1

JT: This is my first fanfic, so please read and review. I want to know what people think of it before I go on writing. The first two chapters are posted, so please read **both of them** before reviewing.

Caution: This story is rated Mature due to possibly some yaoi and definitely a lemon or two. Eventually heavy stress on pairings and lemons there. Yaoi will be found in places you wouldn't expect. If you aren't supposed to read this type of thing, I advise you don't.

Reminder: I will give _no warning_ when yaoi/lemons will start or end! Keep this in mind when reading.

Disclaimer: I only own a Chrono Trigger cartridge. I don't own SquareSoft (don't I wish) or the entire game or the characters in _any_ way! I only own this fanfic and characters that I make up (I will do a disclaimer saying that I DO own such characters if the occasion arises!)

With that under that bridge…onto the fanfic!

---

Chapter 1: Repetitions

Schala lay on her bed, tossing restlessly. The dream was different than the others, but still terrible. They always were. It was like a warning, a warning for something she wished would never happen.

"_Mother, no!" the princess screamed, rushing into the gigantic room. "Y-you can't…!"_

"_Dalton, darling, see that this little brat is put in her place!" Queen Zeal thundered, pointing at her daughter._

"_With pleasure, precious," the man said back, walking up to Schala and grabbing her arm._

_Schala tried hard to fight back, but failed. "You will find that unwise, swine," Dalton warned, dragging the helpless girl out of the room._

_All that the princess could say was, "Mother…don't do this to me! Don't do this to yourself! Nooo…"_

_Zeal once again faced the machine as soon as her daughter left. She began to cackle. "And now, Mammon Machine—"_

The cerulean-haired girl awoke then, her brow coursed with sweat. "Not another one of those dreams," she said miserably, rubbing her forehead. She sighed. "What do they mean?"

Then, her younger brother, Janus, strolled in casually. "Oh, good, you're awake. Mother wanted to speak with you about…" he trailed off. "Oh dear, not another one of those dreams," he said in barely a whisper as he sat down beside Schala on her bed.

She smiled weakly. "Yes, I'm afraid so," she said, stroking her brother's hair. It was the same color as her own, but shorter.

"We must do something," Janus said, his flame-like eyes starting to glow. "I won't stand by as these dreams keep coming. After you talk to Mother, let's head to the Dream Library. There should be a clue there."

She was touched by her brother's concern. "Yes, let's," she said, getting up from her bed. "But now, I must change so I can go see Mother. I'll see you later in the dream library. You should go there now and start looking."

Janus nodded, then walked out of his sister's room.

Schala lifted her brush, and began to stroke it through her cerulean hair, humming slightly. As soon as she was done, she slipped into a purplish robe and a pair of silver, strappy high heels.

When she arrived at her mother's room, Queen Zeal snapped, "It took you long enough! Sit down!"

The girl obeyed, sinking into a heavily padded chair to the side of her mother's bed. "What was it that you wanted to talk with me about, mother?" she asked, feeling small.

"Oh, be quiet," Zeal thundered. "There was a group of people who came yesterday, wishing to speak to you. They were your age. I told them to get lost, but I wanted to know…would you have actually known them?"

"Who were they?" Schala asked politely.

The queen rolled her eyes, then said, "Then you wouldn't know them?"

"It depends," insisted Schala, determined to find out who they were.

"One was a boy with spiky red hair…and then there was a purple-haired girl, and a blonde—"

_Oh, dear, _thought Schala. "I…I do know them, mother…" the princess said softly.

"Oh, you do, do you? It seemed as though the boy was quite wrapped up in the two girls he was with, so—"

"I'm _not_ dating him, mother! I happen to know them! When did they come by?"

Zeal began to glare at Schala. "Never interrupt me again!" she shouted. "They were here yesterday around sunset. They said that they would be camping overnight in a cave nearby, and hoped you could come find them…" Zeal paused, thinking. "Where did you say you knew them from?" she inquired suspiciously.

"I just…I just happen to. They…they were…" Schala tried to think of a plausible excuse. The truth was that she had met them in a dream, and since they had come, it made it more of a sign. "I met them…a long time ago at a party," she lied. She hoped it convinced her mother.

"Oh, all right…" Zeal said, sounding disappointed. "You may go now."

Schala hurried out, excited dearly by this news. "What was his name…?" she asked herself as she jogged to the dream library to meet Janus. "Chrono!" she fairly shouted.

"Yes, your highness?" a mocking, deep voice said behind her. "How may I help you?"

Slowly, Schala turned to face the voice. "It's…Chrono, right?" she asked, noting his red, spiky hair. "How did you get in here?"

"Easily," he muttered, then said, "and yes, it is Chrono."

Schala fairly fainted with happiness at that, dashing up to hug him. "You _are_ real," she exclaimed excitedly. "You _do_ exist!"

"I, er, yes," Chrono said hesitantly.

"Why are you here then?" she asked hastily, leading him to a bench at the side of the hallway.

The red-haired boy hesitated, then began, "Your mother…she…she has created, with the help of Dalton, a huge machine. It's the—"

"Mammon Machine!?" Schala asked excitedly. At last, her dreams would be unwound!

"How—oh, never mind. Yes, the Mammon Machine. And it's…she's using it to gain power, but it drains the good part of her soul to leave only blackness; blackness, that has been foretold, that will be her downfall, and that of her kingdom."

Schala was struck dumb at these words for several seconds, then recovered. "Oh, um…that's…terrible," she said slowly.

"Princess, you need to help us. We want to save the kingdom, and although your mother might die, everyone else should live—"

At that, Schala burst into tears and leaned toward Chrono, throwing her arms around his neck. "N-no…m-mother…"

Chrono tried to comfort her, but couldn't think of anything to say. This was normal for him; he was very quiet.

Presently, Schala was able to control her tears, and although she remained hugging Chrono, she was able to discuss the current situation. "What can I do to help?"

The boy thought for several seconds, then said, "Let me worry about that. As I seem to recall, you are meeting your brother at the dream library now. Would you perhaps mind if I came along…?"

"That's perfectly all right," Schala said, wiping her tearstained face with her hands. "I, um…" she began, trailing off.

"I know," Chrono said, "you've dreamt about me." He helper her stand up.

Schala blushed, then took advantage of her arm placement around his neck, and bent up to kiss him. "I sure did, but it was about that Mammon Machine business…" she murmured, leaning for another kiss.

Chrono readily accepted her this time, then said, "I think your brother…will be waiting for you."

"Oh, right," Schala said, pulling reluctantly away from Chrono and walking towards the dream library. He followed.

---

Janus sat at a table, disks and disks of Schala's dreams spread out before him. He picked one up, the first one, and placed it into the hologram drive.

At that moment, Schala and a boy he did not recognize walked in. The princess was leading him over to her brother.

As soon as she arrived at the table, Schala told Janus, "This is Chrono—he was in some of my later dreams."

"Pleasure," Janus said suspiciously, not offering a hand to shake or even looking up.

"Er, nice to meet you too," Chrono said, then looked at the hologram projector. "What are we—"

Schala whispered, "My dreams. We wanted to see if there was any clues to the Mammon Machine in any one of them…or what mother could be doing to herself…"

"Right," he whispered back.

---

The first two dreams were exactly the same; Schala finding a hidden door marked "Mammon – Keep Out" and entering, seeing the machine without anyone around, and leaving the curious room.

The third was slightly different; the princess heard cackling from the Mammon room, and peered in to see her mother there, then was too frightened to go on, and left.

The fourth focused on Chrono and his group, who were trying to shut down the Mammon Machine by stabbing it with a red dagger, but finding no weakness and being sentenced to death. This dream repeated for the next three nights.

The next dream was the one of the night before; Schala running into the room, but being grabbed by a cursing Dalton and thrown out.

---

"Like that did us a whole lot of good," grumbled Janus, gathering the disks and putting them on the shelf. "I didn't see any clues, did you?"

"Not one," Chrono said. Schala shook her head.

"I didn't think so," Janus said, disgusted. "How did we possibly think, Schala, that these dreams held clues? We were idiots, is why. We couldn't possibly just accept the fact that your dreams came and went as they did, and they were just dreams!"

Quietly, Chrono said, "I'm real…and I was in her dream…is that not a clue enough?"

Janus glanced at him, then stalked toward his room.


	2. Chapter 2

JT: Well, I had to rewrite that last chapter three times to avoid a lemon, they kept sneaking in there. I'm probably going to put one in this chapter, so you're warned. Also, please know that I will describe in as much detail as I can. But I _will_ skip over as many of the naughty bits as I can!

Caution: This story is rated mature. Don't read it if you're too young.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chrono Trigger! Psh. Of course I don't. Who does? Squaresoft. And no, I don't own that either (I wish!). So, that means I don't own any of the characters from the game!

---

Chapter 2: Pleasure

"Mother, I will be spending the night out-of-grounds," Schala informed Zeal during supper. "I feel like a camping trip, alone. So I can think some things over." Earlier that day she had convinced Chrono to let her spend the night at their camp. When he finally agreed, they set a time, and he left the palace.

Zeal raised a suspicious eyebrow, then said, "And who said you could do such?"

"I decided myself, Mother," Schala said levelly. "I need some time to myself—time to think."

"Think about what, may I ask?"

Schala was prepared for her mother to say this. "There's lots of things I need to think about. If I told you all of them, we'd be here half of tonight and tomorrow. I just need to think things over."

"All right, then. You can. But if you're—"

Schala smirked behind her napkin. "I'm not going to get into trouble, Mother," she said.

---

Chrono sat close to the cave, contemplating what tonight would bring. He simply couldn't—it would be wrong, he was a newbie, and all of his friends would be around.

But then again, why not? It would be his first. It would be fun. It would be one of the most daring things he had ever accomplished. It would be—hopefully—incredible. It would be exciting, erotic even.

He rejected the idea over and over again, turning the prospect over in his mind, until a blonde girl with a pony tail emerged from the cave.

"Chrono, what's wrong? You look troubled," she said to the red-haired boy.

"I—er, it's nothing, Marle," he said to the blonde, hoping to end the conversation there.

Marle studied his face momentarily, then left to the cave again.

---

Schala hurried from the castle, a bag slung over her arm full of clothing and other nightly essentials. She noticed the redhead not far off, like he said, nearby a cave. She heard happy chatter from inside, but noticed Chrono was not part of it. She was secretly happy that she would be able to approach him alone.

When she reached his camp, she sat down next to Chrono and said, "Thanks for letting me come out here tonight."

Oh, how badly she wanted to kiss even his cheek, but withheld. She had to wait until later, then even more would happen, she would make sure of that.

At that moment, a purple-haired girl walked out. "Chrono, who's the hot dog?" she asked, looking briefly at Schala.

"This is Princess Schala," Chrono introduced her. "Oh, and Princess, this is Lucca, my inventor friend."

"Pleasure," Schala said automatically, standing and curtsying.

"Great to meet you," Lucca said, then returned to the cave. After a few seconds, a frog who walked upright; a robot creature; a blonde with shoulder-length hair wearing animal skins covering only her breasts and waist; another blonde wearing a pantsuit and ponytail; and a man Schala knew, with the same cerulean hair as her, wearing a dark cape that flew out behind him; all walked out of the cave.

Chrono said, "This is Princess Schala, everyone. She's going to stay overnight and help us on Project Mammon. Princess, this is—" he pointed to the frog creature "—Glenn;—" he pointed to the robot "—Robo;--" then he pointed at Marle "—Marle;—" Chrono pointed at the prehistoric-looking woman "—Ayla; and this—" he pointed at the blue-haired man who Schala recognized "—is Magus."

She curtsied at each of them in return.

"It is a pleasure," Robo said in a mechanical voice.

Alya said, "Good, meet you."

Glenn said with a ribbet, "'Tis thou to whom I should bow, your Highness."

Marle said enthusiastically, "How're you?"

Magus simply nodded and reentered the cave.

"Dark one talk little," Ayla told Schala once he was inside.

The princess nodded, then followed Magus. "You…do recognize me, do you not, brother?" she asked him, sitting down next to him.

"I suppose I caught a wisp of your old self," he said darkly, turning away from her.

Schala looked down. "I…wanted to tell you myself…" she said slowly. "Mother…she isn't doing well…"

"So long to the old bat, she never cared for me anyway. You of all people must remember that day."

"I do…Magus, did she hurt you with that spell?"

"It's possible," he said, shedding his cape. A large dark welt showed on his bare flesh. "It has been impossible to get rid of. Painful, too. The same type of pain felt when one lives without someone to love…" he murmured pointedly.

"I—oh, Magus, we're siblings…" she rejected, but he had already began kissing her neck.

"It's not a matter," he whispered, then drew away. "You must remember..."

Schala felt erotic at that, then insisted that they travel to the river. Magus put his cape back on and they left the cave.

"We're going to catch up," Schala said.

Chrono looked at them skeptically, then asked, "How do you know each other?"

"Siblings," Magus interjected, then grasped Schala's hand and led her towards the river.

When they reached the water, they hesitated for a moment, then stripped naked and dove under the cool, refreshing water. They came to face each other after a few moments.

"You've, er, grown up a lot," Schala said to Magus, looking at his lower region.

His flame-like eyes flared up; "You've grown up a lot too…particularly blessed as a woman."

Schala smiled and threw her arms around his neck. He began kissing up her neck again; slowly, passionately, erotically.

"Magus," she said, impressed. "You've…improved…over the years."

"Admittedly," he said, taking a pause from kissing her, "so have you."

She giggled, then French kissed him. "Let's…"

"Yes," he said, then began.

"Ohh," Schala said dreamily, slipping underwater with Magus. "Incredible," she told him, leaning to kiss him.

---

Chrono couldn't think straight. He knew Magus was Schala's brother, but he couldn't get his mind off of them leaving to the river together. He had heard a multitude of giggling recently, and a few moans, and began to get suspicious of the pair. Schala was supposed to be his—he was the one who kissed her at the palace, or rather, she kissed him; and they were the two to make arrangements for overnight.

It wasn't fair.

It was too suspicious.

He _had_ to go see what they were doing. They had been gone too long.

---

Schala emerged from the water, panting. She pulled away from Magus, grabbed her clothes, and jumped onshore, turning her back to her brother.

"You're tired, I see," Magus said, getting out of the water as well.

"And you're not?" Schala asked. "You were incredible; you went forever. And you mean you're not tired?"

Magus smirked. "Of course not. What do you think I am, new?"

Schala blushed, slipping on her robe.

"I can tell you are, though," he said, kissing her neck. "Well, at least, you're forgotten a lot."

"How?" she asked, curious.

"The _way_ you do it. It's…infrequent. Which makes it wild, but still, infrequent, which makes you tired more easily."

"I—oh," Schala said, turning towards the camp. "Interesting."

Magus leaned towards Schala to French kiss her.

---

Chrono walked towards the river, determined that something was up between the two. They _could_ be siblings—anything was possible—but that didn't mean that they weren't doing something stupid. Something, he knew, he should be doing with Schala.

Which was, of course, having sex.

But then again, what was the point of knowing something like that? If she didn't want to, it wasn't the right time. Still, he knew that she would be ready.

He approached the river cautiously, afraid at what he might see.

Two figures, obviously Magus and Schala, were facing their back towards Chrono.

"Magus, Schala?" Chrono asked quietly from the other side of the river.

Schala stood up and said brightly, "Chrono, I figured you'd get worried. Sorry we were out so long. I—er, we were going to go back soon."

"Of course we were," Magus reinforced. "I can't spend all night catching up with my sister, even though there's enough to talk about."

Chrono said, "Oh, well…let's go back to camp?"

"Let's," Schala said, hopping over the river. She gave Chrono a peck on the cheek, then hurried along ahead, her wet hair streaming behind her.

"Magus, what happened out there?" Chrono asked immediately when Schala was out of hearing range. "What?"

Magus thought for a moment, then said with a smirk, "You should know what happened, if you're asking. It's just to confirm your fears, I know that."

"I…" Chrono was unsure what to say. "I just thought…you're siblings…"

"Nonetheless," he said darkly. He then hurried along after his sister.


	3. Chapter 3

JT: ...well then. I'm so glad I get to post this chapter. Big Schala/Magus-related surprise. Other surprises too. Read to find out.

Caution: Mature-rated content. Just don't read it if you're too young.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Chrono Trigger, but I don't. I don't own Squaresoft either, alright.

---

Chapter 3: Lovers

Schala sat next to a fuming Chrono on a log outside the cave. "How could you!?" he screamed as soon as he sat down. "We were together!"

"I...I just...wanted...variety," Schala said, hoping that he understood.

"Variety!? You wanted _variety_!? I'll give you variety," he cried at her.

Schala sighed. "I'm...sorry, Chrono. It's just...Magus..."

"What's so special about Magus? He's your _brother_, for God's sake! Your _brother_! And--"

"...Chrono, just drop it, alright? I made a mistake. And why are you being so possessive? We haven't done anything together, except kissed a few times."

"A mistake!? That's an understatement! You made a catastrophe of it, that's what! And me? Being possessive? Honestly, Schala! I was being possessive, if you think so, because I thought I loved you! Now I'm not even sure--"

"Chrono, please. I didn't...mean...to hurt you. Magus and I...we go back pretty far. I was four, he was seven, and I got undressed in our room. He saw me like that, and I didn't think it would matter. But of course, it _did_. He made it the center of his life. I was his obsession. One day, when he was nine and I was six, he kissed me deeply, and..."

Chrono's rage had somewhat subsided, but at that it flared. "_What!?_ What did he do to you?"

"...um, I don't want to talk about it. But let's just say it happened again. And again, and again, and I just got used to it. Him and me...Mother never suspected a thing. But then, she got mad at him, and kicked him out of the palace. I see he teamed up with you to stop her...like I am right now. Thank you for letting him. It was--"

"--a _huge_ mistake! I'm going to just go in there and--"

"--forgive him, Chrono. I think I provoked it...you know, with me undressing...I'm sorry, Chrono."

"You want me to--"

"--forgive him, yes." She sighed. "Why is that so difficult? It wasn't my first, anyway. I mean...back at the river wasn't...but I have had others."

"...who else?" Chrono asked, a bit hesitantly.

Schala sighed again. "I didn't--want to, with him, but Dalton..."

"What!? Dalton? What did he do to--"

"It was mom's idea of punishment. I was 9 and it was right after Magus got kicked out. ...I...don't see what I did wrong. Maybe it was a warning not to do the same as Magus?"

_Perhaps,_ thought Chrono. _Just maybe._

"Anyway, it's over now."

_Not really_."Sure."

"That's good...just...please, don't bring it up."

_Oh, I won't bring it up. Of course not._ "I'll try not to."

"Good. Thank you."

"So...you still..." Chrono asked hesitantly.

Schala nodded, and began to erotically and thoroughly kiss his neck. "You have a nice neck," she whispered in his ear, which she began to nibble on.

Chrono felt a hardening in his lower region. Immediately he knew what was happening, so threw his arms around Schala and pressed against her. His first was coming so much faster than he thought.

---

Magus sat with his back to the rest of the group inside the tent. He knew what Chrono and Schala were doing outside; even an idiot would. It was impossible not to hear their erotic moaning.

He knew he had to tolerate it, though. Schala was his sister. She was forbidden now that they had grown.

But then again, he knew her body so well that it was hard to stay away. Although he wasn't supposed to have sex with her, he just had, so what would be the harm?

Magus knew, though. He knew that the harm would be to Chrono. He would hate to hurt Chrono after being let into the group. It was just wrong.

And also, no matter how well he knew Schala's body, he knew that they could never be. They were brother and sister, and relationships such as theirs were unacceptable. Luckily they had been able to keep theirs quiet.

He had a flash of thought, so brilliant (to him, of course) that his head was reeling. He got up, turned around, and sat next to Marle, who was just staring into the fire. (JT: They had a fire in their tent, too...)

"Ah, Marle," he said, making her jump.

"Uh, hey, Magus," she said nervously. "I d--um, nevermind..." She was a bit frightened that he, who talked so little, was suddenly forming almost full sentences to her. She remembered in the battle, of course, when he explained several things, but she could tell that had been directed at Chrono. Marle shivered.

"It's a lovely evening, isn't it?"

She began to feel relieved, but only slightly. Although Magus was talking to her, she thought she knew why, and her heart, although her mind was forcing her into a catacomb of nervousness, was doing cartwheels.

"Me go fight reptites," Ayla said and bounded from the tent unexpectedly. Robo followed her, along with Lucca and Glenn.

"Magus...you're looking...um, dark, tonight," Marle said.

Magus's plan was working out beautifully. How different could Marle's body be? They were both princesses, Marle and Schala, so perhaps they liked the same style. His face twisted into a smile, but it wasn't an evil one. "And you, my darling, are looking...very precious tonight."

She blushed, at a loss for words. She cleared her throat, trying to think of something witty to say in return, but nothing came. Her heart told her to lean forward, and she did as it commanded, kissing Magus's thin yet beautiful (to her) lips. Finally she was able to say something. "Thank you." Her face cracked into a rather mischievous smile.

He kissed her back. His plan was working out more perfectly and fast than he had ever imagined. He reached over her head and began to take off her shirt, feeling her hard nipples pressed against him as she continued to kiss him passionately. It was exactly as he expected. He was still good.

---

"No reptite here," Ayla complained and kicked a rock.

"Ayla, we told you, we aren't in your time anymore, so there aren't any more reptites. There are plenty of other monsters though, aren't there?" Lucca reminded her, and then sat down on the rock that Ayla had kicked (JT: It was a big rock. I didn't say Ayla kicked it away!)

"Want fight reptite," she said.

"On yonder there is a Gate," Glenn said, sitting next to Lucca.

"A Gate to where?" Lucca asked.

"End of Time," Robo said mechanically, and continued to walk forward.

"Ah, of course. And then there is one to Ayla's time...ah, perfect. Let's continue on, and go to your time, Ayla. You'll be able to fight reptites there."

"Me want fight reptite," she said again, and bounded forward to where Robo was.

"Dost thou know if this idea ist a good one?" Glenn asked, slightly unsure. "If Chrono finds out that we have gone, shall he not wonder? Shall he not try to find us?"

"If you want, you can stay behind, but I'm going," Lucca said, following Ayla and Robo to the sparkling sphere.

Glenn sighed, and hopped to follow them.

When all four reached the Gate, Lucca took out the Gate Key which she had hidden in her pocket for the entirety of the journey, and held it close to the sphere.

It happened all at once. The gate expanded, and the four dashed in. Lucca stored the key again. The gate closed into a spiral of dizzying colors.

And then, almost as soon as that happened, it stopped. The four were dropped lightly from the sky onto what looked like a glowing cup, but was just light.

All four looked for the light containing Ayla's time. Lucca found it first, and called everyone over. "Let's get this over with, so we can go back, and hope that Chrono isn't looking for us," she said, holding the Gate Key towards the light. The four were beamed up to the sky, into another gate, which on the other end, opened to let them out.

They fell several hundred feet to the ground, but all landed perfectly. Ayla ran excitedly ahead while Robo, Lucca, and Glenn brushed themselves off.

When they caught up to Ayla, she was fighting four dinosaurs at once, by herself, and winning. Each one would cry in pain as she hit them, then fall as a corpse.

At last Ayla had killed all of them, and looked back at Lucca, then Glenn, and lastly, Robo. "All fight reptites!" she said enthusiastically, grabbed Glenn's wrist, and dragged him off to the next battle.

"She seems excited," Robo observed, and walked to follow them.

"Maybe a bit...too excited," Lucca said worriedly, but followed Robo into battle.

Lucca drew her gun and shot a bullet at the enemy. It cried in pain but did not fall. Robo rocketed a punch at the same creature, and that time it died.

Ayla was running around crazily, punching randomly at enemies and the air. "What ist happening to her?" Glenn asked worriedly, looking at Ayla warily.

"I—I don't know," Lucca said. She also watched Ayla's strange behavior. "What…"

Ayla then whirled on them. She continued stabbing the air with her fists. She found Glenn and began to beat the frog up (JT: Noo! Froggie T.T). He staggered in pain, dropped to his knees, and croaked.

"Good kill thing!" Ayla screamed triumphantly, punching next at Lucca.

The girl dodged the first five blows, and was able to lodge a tranquilizer into the crazed cavewoman's body.

"She should be fine…let's just get these two back to the Dark Ages, so we can see what people can do about healing them!" Lucca said to Robo. "And—_hurry_!" She herself picked up Glenn, slung him over her shoulder, and dashed off.

Robo picked up Ayla in the same fashion, and ran after Lucca. "Ayla, are you OK?" Robo asked. "We may be from different time periods, but I…love—"

"The Gate's opening! Please hurry!" Lucca called toward the lovesick robot. "Oh, hurry, it's open!"

In a burst of speed, Robo leaped into the closing Gate. "Just in time," he whispered disappointedly. He himself wouldn't have minded staying with Ayla in her time period.

---

Chrono panted slightly as they broke apart. The pair was on the grass of the field. The fire had gone out long ago, and Schala enjoyed looking at Chrono bathed in the moonlight. Their legs were still entwined, and her hand stroked his muscular chest softly.

"I wonder where the others are," commented Chrono. He stroked Schala's hair from where he was, awkward as it was because she was mostly laying on it.

"They're probably off fighting or something silly," she whispered in his ear. "This was much better, don't you think, than risking your life for some adrenaline, right? Because, honestly, you got plenty of adrenaline from this, didn't you?"

Chrono sighed, and placed his hand down on her back. "Of course I did, with you," he said to her.

She giggled, and ran her hand through his hair and kissed him lightly. "We could do it again, you know," she whispered suggestively, resting her head on his chest.

"Aren't you tired?" Chrono asked with concern. He kissed her back.

"Of _course_ not," she whispered, running a finger along all of the indents on his chest. "I'm never tired."


	4. Chapter 4

JT: If that chapter wasn't at least OK, I'm very bummed. Here's some more "awesomeness" from me. I think this is less lemon-y, if you catch my drift.

Caution: That last part was more mature than this chapter, I hope, but still, you don't know what's coming up. It's probably some other mature something. Because, you know, this thing is rated mature for a reason. Please, don't read it if you're too young, because I don't want some angry parents reviewing mine saying, "My kid was reading this, I can't believe you'd post such things," yadda, yadda, yadda...

Disclaimer: I don't own Chrono Trigger (or any characters within) or Squaresoft. I sure do wish I did, but all I own is this fanfic, which, by the way, I'm not making any money off of. Yay.

---

Chapter 4: Surprises

"This isn't the End of Time," Robo commented, looking at his surroundings.

He and Lucca were standing on a grass plain, he with Ayla over his shoulder, and Lucca with Glenn over hers.

"No, it isn't. What did we do wrong? That was the same Gate we first used, right?" Lucca thought it over.

Robo set Ayla down on the ground, and Lucca did the same with Glenn. The pair sat down, Lucca in heavy thought, and Robo looking at Ayla, taking in her features as she was laid out before him.

"I've got it," Lucca said suddenly. "The End of Time got us here, but we can't get back because these two Gates are linked!" She gestured to the Gate they had just stepped out of.

Robo nodded, thinking it was plausible. "But how do we get back? The others are probably worrying about us by now, don't you think?"

"I don't know," Lucca said sadly. "Maybe there's another Gate in this time period. There'd better be..."

Robo shook his head slightly. "If no one had suggested this idea—"

"If no one had suggested this idea, we would be fine! We would also be back at camp, watching two happy couples _make love_! I prefer being stuck in the wilderness to that!" Lucca nearly shouted.

"True," Robo sighed, "but we could have settled for the monsters in 1200."

Lucca stood up abruptly, and whirled toward the robot. "We could have, we could have! We could live a boring life, you could still be broken, I could still be friends with Chrono, who _never would have met the stupid princess—_"

"We could have. But instead you chose to become a fighter through the ages, along with your friend and a princess who strives to live in freedom. You could have not fixed me up, and I wouldn't be here right now to help you cope with this. And we could have not gone back to prehistoric years to meet Ayla, and again now to satisfy that Ayla wanted to fight reptites. We could have done any of these things. But we didn't. We are here now, and we need to figure out how to get back. Now, what year is it, do you know?"

Lucca sat back down, facing Robo. "I think, judging by the emptiness of the whole place, we're still in prehistoric times. But I don't know where. Do you want to take the Gate back?"

"Who knows if it will even take us back?" Robo reasoned. "I say we try to find out where we are first. And if we can't, then we take the Gate to wherever it will take us."

"Sounds like a plan," Lucca said. She picked up Glenn and slung him over her shoulder again.

Just then, he stirred. "Ungh, thou hast tossed me over your shoulder, but for what reason?"

"I'm carrying you over my shoulder because you're too hurt to walk. And you got absolutely beat up by Ayla, so you need to be healed before you can say anything to me." Suddenly, she stopped, and lay Glenn out on the ground again. "Wait, what did you say?"

"Lucca, I am of good health. Good enough. Perhaps no one thought that we always carry Tonics? Please, use one now, for I will perish soon if there is any other tossing of me." Glenn smiled weakly.

"What has happened to the maiden?" Glenn asked as Lucca got out a Tonic and used it on the injured frog.

Lucca stood, gestured to the robot to carry Ayla, and began to explain to Glenn. "We don't know. You were there when she started to go insane. Then, she began to beat you up. She went for me next, and I dodged a few attacks, but was soon able to tranquilize her. So, she's still out, right now, anyway. We went through a Gate, and we ended up here instead of the End of Time. Any thoughts?"

"Hast thou thought much of the possibility that we are in no time at all? Perhaps a plain somewhere—one that is inaccessible by almost everyone. And we could get lost searching for a landmark, or another Gate, and we should simply turn back, or at least leave a trail?" Glenn questioned.

"Well, it's unlikely. But perhaps. At least, leaving a trail would be a good idea." Lucca thought about it for several seconds before adding, "And, well, maybe…maybe we shouldn't go…"

Robo, who had been standing quietly with Ayla slung over his shoulder, spoke. "Or, maybe," he said quietly, "we should stay and wait for someone to find us?"

Lucca was outwardly opposed. "Who ever got anywhere by waiting around? I'll tell you—babies! Babies and little kids! Well, we are neither! We're hardened adventurers! We should either head out or head back. If you have some opinion, maybe you should tell us—but please, don't come up with another idea, because as you can see that wasn't the best."

The robot looked down, a little dejectedly. "If you say so." He lay Ayla down once more and sat down as did the other two.

Glenn was first to state his opinion. "I think that one of us should go back through the Gate, and one of us should start searching for another one—leaving a trail, of course."

"Brilliant, Glenn," Robo stated. "But who shall do which? Will we go in pairs? Will we all head out into different directions? Please, explain your plan in detail."

"All right, here is what we must do," Glenn began. "I will go with Lucca through the Gate, because she has the key. You, however, will stay behind with Ayla, and stay here unless something attacks you. If we come back through the Gate, there will be one of two outcomes: it will be the right Gate, and we are coming back to get you, or it was the wrong Gate.

"Also, Robo, you'll be responsible for Ayla until we get back. If she wakes up, knock her out if she's still crazy, or talk her through the plan if she's not." Glenn took several breaths, causing his mouth to inflate and deflate. "Does everyone understand their role?"

Lucca, who had been listening intently, spoke. "That is a great idea. I'll go with you. But I must ask—what if we can't come back?"

"I'll go in looking for you if you're not back in two hours," the robot volunteered.

"Yes! I say it's a plan!" Lucca said enthusiastically. "By the way, Robo, want me to put another tranquilizer in her, or something? Because—"

Robo shook his head. "No, I'll be able to handle her. Trust me. Just go on, and be as quick as you can!"

"All right!"

---

Marle breathed deeply as she broke away from Magus. They joined again, Marle moaning, and then lay down beside each other. They made no move to touch one another, because although Magus wasn't tired, Marle was, and he knew doing anything more with her was out of the question.

Finally, Marle gasped out, "Magus." She moaned, reaching blindly for him, her passion still aflame. "More," she begged.

He lay down on her, going in as she pressed on his back with heated hands. "Darling," he whispered as the two lay intertwined. "Oh, yes."

The princess was not used to her passion being so forward. Usually she had to curb it. She began to writhe slightly, breathing very shallowly. "Magus," she whispered in his ear, still clutching him as though he would not stay with her, "you are incredible."

Magus smiled despite himself. "And you say it is your first? Well, I'll be damned—you're…" He paused, thinking of the right words. "You're sure better than I expected."

Marle, thankfully, didn't hear him say that. She was breathing very quickly, her heart beating faster than it had ever before in her life, and she was writhing beneath Magus, clutching him desperately, praying he would never leave her. That moment, her life seemed perfect. No worries. Just love, passion, ignorance. She didn't want to know what was going on anywhere else, she knew what was going on with her, and that was enough. At that moment, she was free.

It lasted only a second. Reality came crashing back as Magus broke away from her. "But Magus," she wailed, "you stopped!"

"If I had gone on longer you would be in deep pain right now."

"I am in deep pain right now, pain of the heart! I need you, Magus. I want you. I must have you," she begged.

He smiled slightly. "I'm that good, am I?"

"Better!" she cried, reaching for him, embracing him. "Magus, you must."

"Aren't you tired?" Magus asked. He wasn't, he was sure of that, and he wanted her so badly as well, but she _must_ be tired.

"Does it matter?"

"Of course it does, I won't go on if you're tired."

"Then I'm not tired! Magus," she begged, "please."

He chuckled softly.

"Magus, I love you. Please, for me, you must continue. With you, I have no worries, no feelings, only blind passion, only love, only ignorance. I don't know nor care what's going on around me, because of what is happening to me. Reality has no effect on me. The real reality is there: you and I are having sex. And that's what matters to me. You make me feel so alive, so loved, so energized. Please," Marle finished.

The man reached out, embracing the princess. He pulled her toward him, entered her sacred chamber. Her secrets were his, too, now. Once again, they joined in passion, in blind love. They were now one.

---

Glenn and Lucca looked at each other rather skeptically. What was this, the ever-changing Gate? A large meadow, much like, but at the same time so much different than, the one they had been in seconds previously, stretched out before them.

Lucca sighed, unable to hide her annoyance. "Why can't it be like the other Gates? Why did we bother even going out here? Why didn't we stay back—"

"Because we didn't. You've already asked these questions," Glenn stated. He, too, was slightly annoyed. But it was because of Lucca's insistent whining, not because of the Gate.

Then, he hopped away into the distance, with Lucca looking after him somewhat sadly. "Froggie...you weren't that bad..."

---

Queen Zeal was sitting by the window of her room, facing the cave at which her daughter was.

"I knew she would meet up with that boy," she hissed to herself. "I can't believe she wouldn't tell me the truth."

"Darling," Dalton tried to console her. "Come over here. Don't worry about her. Just forget all of your troubles. You and I need some time alone, don't you think? Let's focus on that. I think you need it."

Reluctantly, Zeal stepped away from the window. Her robe slipped away to the floor. The man began to caress her, explore her as he had done with so many others.

"Dalton, do you think—"

"Shh, darling. Don't worry about them."

"Schala—"

"Please, stop talking about them." Dalton sighed, and withdrew himself momentarily from Zeal's body. "Would you like me to punish her when she returns?" he asked.

A smile flickered across Zeal's face. "Yes, yes, you should."

Dalton went back to caressing and touching the queen. _I shall enjoy this immensely,_ he thought devilishly.

---

Schala and Crono broke apart once again. Schala continued to moan, "Crono…" for the next few moments. Then, she began running her finger around his chest again.

Crono kissed Schala's head thoughtfully. "Schala," he whispered hesitantly.

"Yes, Crono?" Schala asked, in a somewhat dreamlike state.

The teen sighed slightly. He didn't really want to say this to her, but it had to be said. "I—" He paused, trying to think of a way to phrase it. "I hadn't ever had sex before you," he confessed softly.

Schala's head fell on Crono's chest. "Oh, don't worry about it, precious. You were fantastic, no need to worry," she breathed back.

"I was okay, then?" he said hesitantly. "I mean, I wasn't bad? Was I better than Magus? How about Dalton—?"

"You were _fantastic_," she began. "You were better than Dalton by thousands of times."

"And Magus…?" Crono almost didn't want to know the answer.

"I've gotten used to Magus's style," she said evasively. "Yours was new and exciting."

Impatiently, Crono tried again. "But was I _better_ than him?"

"Better? Oh, I don't know. Your styles are so different—both so pleasing…" she trailed off. She didn't want to hurt Crono's feelings, but even though he was great, Magus was better. Magus was definitely better than Crono, and she didn't know why she thought that.

Crono kissed her again, slowly, inching his tongue in and exploring her mouth with it. "Well, was that better than Magus?"

"Are you in competition, or something?" Schala asked annoyedly. "Do I have to say which one of you is better for everything? Is it okay that I don't compare you? Is it alright to like both of you? Is it okay that I just wanted _sex_ and _pleasure_ from the two of you? Why can't you just accept it: I don't want to compare you two!"

The boy was taken aback by this outburst. "I'm…I'm sorry, Schala," he whispered. "I just wanted to—to know, you understand?"

"I understand completely," she said softly. "What I don't understand is why you have to compare yourself to him. Why don't you accept the fact that you're both good? Just go and duel or something if you want to see who's better. I shouldn't have to compare you two in your sexual tendencies!"

"You're right, of course," Crono said. He lifted Schala's head off his chest and retrieved his clothes. He gave Schala hers, too, and helped her dress in them.

"I suppose it's time to sleep," she whispered.

Crono hugged her in his arms, laying her head on his chest. "I suppose that would be best."

---

Lucca called to Glenn, "We should go through the Gate; that's the only way to get back."

Glenn began to hop back, a little dejectedly. He had been working on a great exit and reentrance. But that off his chest, he decided to turn back at Lucca's wish. At length, he reached her. She got the Gate key out of her pocket and held it up to the sphere as she normally did.

Lucca and Glenn were absolutely mystified by what they saw as they stepped through the Gate. It was bright—almost too bright to see anything. But vaguely they could make out the outline of a fierce battle. Additionally, they heard swords clashing swords and shields and cries of pain. A mage hovered above one side, producing the light from his hands, pointed skyward. He was shouting things at the army below him, but it was hard to hear what he was saying from their vantage point.

"We aren't back where we've been." Lucca said, frustrated. Glenn was looking out at the battle, trying to figure out which side was fighting for what. It was difficult, because the light was near blinding, but eventually he decided that the side with the mage was trying for control of the country, and the disadvantaged side was defending the current rule.

"Can thou tell what time we hast landed in, Lucca?" Glenn asked her eventually.

She looked around, consulted the Gate Key, and then decided, "We actually seem to be back in your time. The 600s, that is."

"Where?"

"I can't say for sure, but it seems like we're near a forest," Lucca told him, turning around and pointing out a wide strip of forestry to him.

"Wonderful!" Glenn told her. "Come with me!" Lucca, although skeptical, followed him into the thick of the battle.

---

Robo sat looking at Ayla. She was still unconscious, laying on the grass. A daisy was entwined in her fingers.

"I hope you are okay, Ayla," the robot said. He continued to stare at her. For several seconds he believed he was experiencing the emotion of love for her. He wasn't entirely sure, though; he had never felt it before and wasn't sure he was programmed to.

At length Ayla stirred. She turned over a bit, then her eyes shot open. She withdrew her hand from the daisy, then managed to sit up straight.

"Robo here, Glenn and Lucca not," she observed.

"Yes, I'm here, but Glenn and Lucca went through the Gate again. We're supposed to be waiting for them in case they come back. But if you don't remember, you went a little crazy, so they wanted me to watch over you."

"Oh," she said. "Alya not remember this." She sighed. "Ayla hit Glenn?"

Robo nodded. "Yes, you hit him and knocked him out. Then Lucca tranquilized you so you would stop. We hoped it would have no adverse effects but we were not sure."

Ayla stood up. "Glenn and Lucca go through Gate, Ayla and Robo should go through Gate," she insisted.

"I think that is a bad idea, Ayla. They told us to wait here."

She paced back and forth restlessly.

"Go through Gate?" she asked him insistently.

"I do not think we should. Please, do not," he told her.

"What we do now?" she questioned.

He looked her over once as she paced in front of him. "We could…do something interesting."

"What?" she demanded.

Robo reached his mechanical hand to her shoulder and pulled the strap of her top down slightly.

---

Although Crono was supposed to be asleep, his mind was restless and he was unable to. Where had the others gone? Recently he had heard Marle talking with Magus, but Glenn, Lucca, Robo, and Ayla were nowhere to be seen. Before he hadn't been worrying, but now that it had gotten late and he was no longer distracted he found it a little bit odd. Lucca had the Gate key, too, so they would need it to leave Schala's time…not that he wanted to after this.

He wanted to get up and look for them, but Schala's head was still on his chest. Schala had become so important to him in the past few hours that he couldn't leave her. He feared that if he so much as left for a moment, she would leave his arms and go straight back to Magus'. Although he found this revolting, he wouldn't put it past them, since they had done it before.

Chrono sighed restlessly. Schala shifted, drawing her hand from around his right-side ribs to almost over his heart. His body tingled where she had touched him, and he felt another stirring below. It was almost shameful how easily Schala could make him happy. He started to mindlessly run his hand through her hair, feeling her shift ever so slightly each time. His mind wandered back to his other friends briefly, but when Schala let out a soft moan several seconds later, his thoughts crashed back to her. _She is so amazing_, he thought. His erection grew slightly and he was hit with a flashback of them intertwined before, both of them letting out intense moans.

Once again Schala made a small noise, and shifted. Her leg had crossed over his and her knee was against his erection, making it harder. Her hand dragged its way to the right side of his ribcage again, and her other had decided to run along his chest. His mind went back to sexual thoughts. After all, how could he think about his friends when he was so turned on?

---

As they passed through the battle, stopping every so often to block an attack aimed at them, Glenn and Lucca finally made it to the back of the forest. There was a hole, only large enough for one person to enter at a time, with a ladder leading into it, in the corner of the clearing. Glenn led Lucca to the hole and helped her onto the ladder. Once she was down, he simply hopped into the hole.

It was sparsely furnished, but all of the essentials were there. A bed was in the corner, a table with chairs around it was in the middle, and a dresser was not far from the bed. A doll was perched on the table, and upon Lucca's inspection, she saw a switch.

"It plays a song that I know of from when I was very young. 'Tis important to me, Lady Lucca," Glenn said, coming up behind her.

"Oh. I think it's very nice," she said, putting it back down and moving to the side a few paces. "So, why did you bring me here?" Lucca asked.

"'Tis a sanctuary of sorts," he said in response. "In truth, I dwell here. But in times such as these, when wars run rampant, it's necessary to stay protected. Rest here until the fighting ceases, and then we can continue on."

Glenn, the true chivalrous gentleman he was, despite the fact that he was a frog, offered Lucca the bed to rest in. She took the offer and was soon dozing peacefully.


	5. Chapter 5

JT: Well, that chapter ran a little longer than I intended. I guess I kinda got caught up in trying to get all of the characters in there the same number of times. I don't think I did a good job, but regardless, I decided to start a new chapter.

Also, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update. I have periods where I write a lot and periods where I don't. Oftentimes it takes a few "writing periods" for me to write another chapter of this, for whatever reason. I'll try to be faster next time, but my chapters are getting successively longer.

Caution: If you've cared to read the other chapters, you'll notice that this is a fanfic that is not suitable for children. Well, duh. It's rated Mature. So stop reading if you're not _mature_ enough to handle it.

Disclaimer: None of the Chrono Trigger characters belong to me. I'm not making any money off this, either, so don't sue me please?

---

Chapter 5: Warning

Magus didn't hold the same attachment to Marle as Chrono held to his sister. Once she was asleep, even though her head was on his chest, he had no problem getting up and walking around. He stretched, proud of himself. He hadn't gotten that much in one night since he had gotten drunk in the same room as Flea. A mistake, that. He shuddered thinking back to that night, finding out the frightening truth about Flea. Granted, he was almost too wasted to care, but he still retained the memories from that night. This time, though, most certainly wasn't a mistake.

He looked back at Marle, exhausted as she was. Her expression was still blissful as she dozed peacefully. Looking at her like that, part of her left breast exposed by her shirt that had slipped off her shoulder, he almost felt bad for using her like he did. She had been so pure and naïve before, it seemed. Perhaps it was all an act, but he doubted it very seriously. But he had done what he had done, and was only hoping that she didn't want a serious relationship from him.

---

Chrono finally came back down to earth as Schala turned over and off of him. He sighed dejectedly, but decided to use the opportunity to get up and stretch a little. He wasn't used to the aches he was feeling, and although Schala was important to him, he was feeling pretty uncomfortable right then.

Through the tent he saw Magus' silhouette as he, too, stretched his arms. _Bastard_, Chrono thought for a moment. He crept over to the tent and, peeking in, saw Marle in just about the same position Schala had been not too long ago. Magus' back was to him as he continued stretching. Chrono slunk away, thoroughly pissed off at him. _He takes Schala, and then he turns right around and does Marle. Who the hell does he think he is!?_

Schala flipped over again and let out a soft cry of dismay. Her eyes opened blearily and she raised herself from the ground on her elbows. "Chrono," she moaned softly, "come back to bed."

He looked back to her. The way she was positioned gave him a full view of her cleavage, and once again filled him with lusty desire. "That's hardly a bed," he murmured, but obliged. As soon as he wrapped Schala in his arms again, she fell asleep. Chrono was still unable to, so he couldn't help but to clutch Schala tighter and let one lone tear fall on her cheek.

---

Ayla was completely nude, even though they were both finished. "Ayla like natural feel," she insisted when Robo gave her clothes back.

Robo had not been built to engage in sexual activities with humans or other animals, but he had, long ago (but in the future) been interfaced with a computer that taught him about human sexuality. He had downloaded a set of files on how to please women without intercourse. Raunchy as it had seemed at the time, it has served as very useful with Ayla.

At first she had been scared. Apparently in her tribe she had done things with men before, but since none of them were robots, she wasn't familiar with the way Robo's mechanical hands felt on her. However, since he was in a constant stream of accessing the data through his internal computer, he was able to convince her that he was rather skilled. He had no tongue, either, so he had to rely only on his hands. Robo felt bad because he could not fulfill Ayla's wishes as completely as he would have liked (he thought, at any rate). But when she was lying on the ground afterwards, her breathing still heavy and her expression indicating pleasure, he felt slightly differently.

Occasionally her hand traveled between her own legs and flicked around there for several seconds, then withdrew. Robo sat there, simply watching her sleep (since he didn't need to himself), part of him wishing she would put on her clothes so that no one else would see her that way.

The other part of him was begging her never to wear clothes again, and spend more time with him. Even if they were trapped in this time period, in this place forever, he knew he could handle it if she were there.

Something in his computing told him that what he did was very wrong, though. It wasn't fair to Ayla to do that. She was obviously in a very vulnerable position because of the tranquilizer. Under normal circumstances, she would never have said yes, he was convinced.

While she dozed, he decided to redress her. No matter the protests he would face once she woke up. If he didn't redress her, he would crash; his desire was almost overpowering even though he wasn't technically programmed to know what that was.

---

Lucca woke up some time later, feeling refreshed and strangely happy. Glenn was sitting across the room in a chair in the corner she hadn't noticed in her initial scan of the room. He was looking at her, but she was okay with that.

The inventor sat up, stretched, and tried to discern the time by looking up through the hole. "Good evening," she finally decided on, "Glenn."

A hint of a smile played on his lips for a moment before replying seriously, "I hope this night finds you well, Lady Lucca."

She nodded, and sat down at the table. From her pocket she drew a piece of paper, all folded up, and a pencil. "So, what's the plan, Froggie?" she asked, preparing to write it down as he spoke.

---

It was near dawn when Schala lifted her head from Chrono's chest and went off to the river to bathe. She decided that doing it alone would probably be best, because her mother would be able to tell otherwise. She was frightening that way.

By the time she returned to camp, Magus was also awake. "Hello," he said to her bitterly.

Schala tried to sound bright and cheery. "Hello to you too. What are we going to do today?"

He looked at her incredulously. "_We_, or the group? Because in case you didn't notice during your love fest, Lucca, Glenn, Robo, and Ayla left."

She was dumbfounded at how cold he was acting toward her. "Like you were any better," she shot back angrily. "How do you think Marle feels?"

A smirk lit his face. "If you look in there, you'll see how she feels." He gestured toward the tent, and continued arranging firewood in the pit. Chrono was asleep beside it, but as far as Magus was concerned, if Chrono got burned it was his own fault.

Schala peered inside the tent out of curiosity. Marle still had a hint of delight on her face, and Schala saw a slight wet spot on her pants. She still looked spent. A very quiet moan came from deep within her, "Magus."

Still trying to be equally bitter toward her brother as he had been when she returned, Schala scoffed, "But you were just _using_ her. You obviously didn't tell her _that_."

"How do you know?" he challenged.

Schala, at a loss for words (partially because she had no idea which statement he was referring to with that), attempted to turn around and stalk back to the castle, where she was supposed to return that day. She hadn't gotten very far before Magus said, "Tsk, tsk. Chrono so obviously cares about you, and you're just _leaving_ him? What kind of a person _are_ you, Schala?"

She turned around, still very mad at him. "Stop picking on me!" she screamed, surprising them both.

During this, Chrono had awoken. "Schala," he said, shaking his head and trying to get his bearings, "what's wrong?"

Magus had the balls to smirk at her. "Wouldn't want him to find out how you _really_ are," he mouthed. She didn't know how she could tell he emphasized the _really_, but he certainly did.

After opening and closing her mouth without making any sounds for an entire minute, she said, "I have to go." And without even worrying about what would await her once she got back to the castle, she ran off, trying not to cry.

"What was that about?" Chrono asked Magus.

---

Lucca and Glenn climbed the ladder out of his place, once again seeing the raging battle. The side without the sorcerer was really doing very poorly, it appeared. Despite their plan, Glenn had an overwhelming urge to help them.

Glenn stopped, even though Lucca walked on for a few more paces. "I can't just let this happen," he told her when she moved back. "We don't know what changes will take place in the future if we don't help them out."

In her head, Lucca thought the opposite, but she did still want to help them out. "Okay, let's go!"

The pair ran into battle, Lucca pulling out her gun and immediately firing at the wizard, while Glenn drew his sword and began hacking enemy soldiers to bits. Both sides seemed to freeze for a second at they took in the frog and strange girl, fighting for them in some cases, against them in the other half.

Then Lucca's first bullet made contact with the sorcerer, who cursed and attempted to throw a fireball at her. The fighting continued almost immediately. The enemy soldiers were being gruesomely slaughtered by Glenn, despite their best efforts to hurt him.

Lucca continued pulling the trigger of her gun, aimed straight at the wizard, which seemed to be unable to move for some reason. Despite the fact that balls of the various elements (ice, water, fire, and lightning) were being hurled at her, she was able to easily dodge them and send another bullet toward the sorcerer. Each time he seemed to lose a little bit of power until he collapsed in his cloud and simply fell right through it. When he fell, conveniently on a pair of soldiers, the cloud disappeared, and the enemy troops began to take cautious steps backward, away from Glenn and Lucca, who had turned her gun to a soldier.

They were losing steam, actually looking pretty worried about losing now that their main asset had fallen. Lucca ruthlessly pumped three soldiers full of bullets, and Glenn disemboweled several others, before the rest of the troops on that side began to run away, _terrified_.

Amidst the victory cheer from the winning side, Lucca and Glenn slipped away. "Back to the plan," Lucca insisted, taking Glenn's hand and running away from the woods with him.

---

Schala entered the castle, her eyes almost overflowing with tears. She had to wipe them away before her mother saw them, but somehow she couldn't. They wouldn't go away.

And why not? Her older brother, the one so special to her, had practically said he hated her. Since he had met Chrono and his group, he had clearly become heartless and cold. What would have compelled him to treat his own sister like that?

A fresh wave of tears threatened to fall down Schala's cheeks after a new set of questions swirled in her mind.

She walked as quietly as she could to her room, sniffling slightly, and opened the door, not really paying attention. She threw her bag down before hearing a deep, mocking chortle. _Dalton._

"Why hello, precious," he said, getting up from her bed where he had been laying. "Did something go wrong with _loverboy_?" he said cruelly.

"Get the hell away from me!" Schala screamed, trying to turn and run. This could only end badly, she knew.

Dalton grabbed her arm and turned her around. Smirking, he said, "Come now, precious. Is that any way to treat me?"

Schala tried her best to stay silent. It would all be over soon, she hoped.

Then Dalton, despite her blatant resistance, picked her up and flung her onto her bed, from halfway across the room.

"Your mommy wanted me to do this, baby," he growled, trying to show his dominance.

New tears streamed from her eyes. _"She is not my mother!"_ Schala screamed.

"Oh, but she is, precious," he said, attempting to pry her legs apart while removing what little clothing he was wearing.

Finally, once he was completely naked and had managed to separate Schala's legs, he proceeded to have his way with her, while she lay there sobbing.

---

"What the hell did you say to her, Magus?" Chrono said angrily. "Why was she so upset?"

Magus smirked. "I don't know what you mean," he said, almost as if he found it funny.

"I'm making myself as clear as I can!" he said, raising his voice. "What did you do to her?"

"Absolutely nothing," Magus insisted. "I suppose we can attribute it to…_female problems._"

"That wasn't it and you know it!" Chrono said, raising his voice more. "You know that's not it!"

"Of course I do. Then again, if you meant something to her, wouldn't she have told you the _truth_?" he emphasized. Screwing up Chrono and Schala's relationship was the best thing he could do for himself right now, he decided. And he was certainly enjoying it.

During their quarrel, Marle had risen inside the tent and composed herself. She stood up, made sure her outfit was in place, and dusted herself off. Even though she heard the two arguing, she walked out of the tent anyway. She felt Magus taking her in before she looked over and met his gaze.

_Dammit,_ he thought, interrupting his and Chrono's skirmish. _She's beautiful. How fucking complicated._

She stretched, raising her arms above her head, then walked over behind Magus and hugged him from behind, running her hands down his front. She kissed his neck before finally acknowledging Chrono. "Oh, hey, Chrono," she said. "Where's Schala?"

Chrono abruptly got up and walked away from the camp.

"…what?" Marle asked, concerned. "Where is she?"

Magus smirked, confident that she couldn't see his face. "She had some…business…to take care of at the castle."

---

Ayla's eyes fluttered open. She threw her head up and looked around wildly. Why would she have been on the ground except if she was attacked?

She caught sight of Robo at length and slowly the night's events flooded back to her. She remembered how much she really enjoyed it, too. Although, in the past such pleasure had never felt the way he had made it.

"Good morning," he said to her after a moment.

"Morning," Ayla said. "Last night we do happy thing?"

Robo searched his database quickly to see what she meant. "I suppose," he said momentarily.

"Do again?" she asked eagerly, ready to leave the confines of her clothing again.

Robo mentally sighed. "Ayla, we cannot."

Ayla frowned. "I want," she said quietly.

The robot shook his head.


	6. Chapter 6

JT: Why was that last chapter titled "Warning"? I have no idea, now that I really think about it. I named it quite some time ago. Although, I guess that chapter could have served as a warning.

Regardless, here's the next chapter. I hope you all (few that there are) enjoy it. :)

Caution: Yeah, still rated mature. Woooooah. No way.

Disclaimer: Don't own them, still. That's as shocking as the last one.

---

Chapter 6: Conflict

Schala sat on her bed, tears shimmering in her eyes once again. She fought them, trying to keep them from falling. Dalton would abuse her more if he saw even one on her cheek.

She stood up from the bed and walked around it, picking up the various articles of clothing that had been thrown off in any which direction by Dalton. Most were hers, some were his.

He watched her from the bed, taking in every move and savoring it. She hated him; that much was obvious. There had to be a way to get her to like him, though. And he would find it.

"My clothes," he stated.

Schala did nothing, instead continuing to gather her own in order to get dressed as quickly as possible.

"_My clothes_," Dalton said once again, this time more harshly. "Or do I have to go to drastic measures, whore?"

Her eyes nearly overflowed. She hated being manipulated and threatened by Dalton. "No," she sniffled angrily. "Get them yourself!"

It took him a moment to absorb what she had just said. "_Excuse me?_" he said, threateningly. "I believe you just said 'no'."

Flashbacks filled her mind of the numerous rapes Dalton had inflicted upon her. One lone tear managed to escape from her right eye, but it hit the floor before ever touching her face. Still bent over to pick up her bra, she whispered hoarsely, trying to keep the tears back, "You misheard."

Her clothes now gathered in a bundle under her arm, she went around the room and picked up Dalton's, still naked. She walked up to him and dropped them on the bed in front of him as soon as she had them all. "There," she sniffed.

He ran his eyes up her body once again, taking in her curves, her breasts, her features. "Mm, just one more thing," he said as she turned around, away from him.

"What?" she asked, and immediately regretted it.

He reached out from the bed and ran his hands down from under her armpits down to her hips, feeling the inward curve at the sides of her stomach once again.

She tried not to flinch or shiver, then when he was done, walked to the corner of her room to redress and wait for Dalton to leave so she could finally cry.

---

Chrono had left camp about a half an hour ago, wondering what exactly Magus had meant about Schala. Why had Schala run off like that, anyway?

A fiend walked toward him cautiously, and before even looking at it to see what it was, Chrono had sliced it in half. He was confused, but more than that, he was angry. Schala shouldn't have left without at least saying good-bye, unless she really didn't like him.

He swung his sword around again, for no particular reason, but being as there was nothing to hit, he twirled in a complete circle. He continued walking rather aimlessly, occasionally swinging his sword, and musing, always musing. Finally, his sword hit and got lodged in a rather large tree trunk and he had to take time prying it out.

Why did Schala matter so much to him?

Why did he care so much?

And why, more than anything at that time, did he wish she had never come into his life?

---

Ayla was off a bit from their previous position, pouting. Apparently, Robo had done well.

He severely regretted it.

Ayla and him simply could not be. Apparently they both wanted it, if her pouting was any indication. She "won't talk until happy thing again".

No, he couldn't do it again. They were from two different time periods; once the group defeated Lavos, who could say what would happen? Would it stay the same? Probably not. They would probably be sent back to their respective time periods. Of course, he had know way of knowing, he only guessed.

But it was a very depressing guess.

---

Lucca and Glenn had run from the woods, from the battle, hand in hand, and hadn't given it a second thought. The second they slowed down, though, Lucca took her hand away as slowly and inoffensively as possible. His hand was too slimy for her tastes. When they had been running, it hadn't mattered, but the moment she could focus on it, it was disgusting.

She almost felt sorry for him because of his condition. She had no idea what caused it, but obviously a talking frog wasn't normal. Then again, nothing that they were involved in exactly qualified as normal. Time-hopping, using high-tech machines, changing the world. None of it was normal. They were so far from normal.

_Maybe_, she thought, _just maybe, something could work._

---

Magus sat on a log, in front of the campfire where he had been almost all morning. He was deep in thought, as he had been since Chrono had left.

Did he regret insulting his only sister? Yes, he thought so.

Why had he done it, then? Was it from the frustration that she was finally in another relationship, one that wasn't so wrong and that constantly put the pair of them in danger? Or had his feelings changed since he had seen her last?

Before he had much time to ponder that, Marle emerged from the tent once again. She had cleaned up; gotten into a fresh outfit and re-applied her makeup. Of course, she looked gorgeous.

In fact, Magus' breath caught in his throat. "Marle," he finally said, although it came out more like a lustful sigh.

Using her best girly voice, Marle replied, "Yes, my dear?"

She had no time to say anything else, or even think before Magus was beside her, planting kisses on her neck once more. He led her back into the tent. His musings could wait.

---

Queen Zeal was waiting impatiently in the antechamber of her room. She wanted all the details when Dalton got back, and she expected it to be soon.

And almost right on queue, the door opened and Dalton walked in. Their eyes met, Zeal's rather piercing. Dalton walked across the room in three great strides, and sat down across from the Queen.

"Well?" Zeal snapped.

For a moment, it appeared as though a look of lust passed over Dalton's face, but it was quickly serious again. "She's displeased. She hates it oh so much when I punish her. I'm afraid Schala just can't accept that she did something wrong," he said, almost lightly.

Zeal sat there for a moment, contemplating. She knew Schala hated being punished by Dalton, but wasn't Dalton supposed to dislike the punishment just as much? It almost seemed as though he enjoyed it, and that simply couldn't be. _She _was supposed to be his lover, was she not?

"Dalton," she snapped once more, trying to be harsh, "it seems that you like these…sessions quite a bit, is that correct?"

He hesitated. Whenever she took that tone with him, he knew the consequences would be dire if he said the wrong thing. "I thought that Your Majesty wanted me to perform this service?" he attempted, trying to spin it.

The Queen pursed her lips. "Dalton…" she began.

---

Glenn took Lucca to a town slightly to the south of the Cursed Woods, where supposedly a boy named Tata lived. First they stopped by the local inn and had a drink together; water, the only thing that either of them could manage to stomach at a time like this.

"Lucca," he ventured, "what will happen when we defeat Lavos?"

She sighed, placing her water glass back on the bar. "I…I don't know for sure," she whispered. She honestly didn't want to think about it, either. Although she liked the year 1000, she certainly liked time travel better. And the future, although depressing, was fascinating.

Not only that, but she would certainly miss her new friends. Admittedly, two came from her time period, so she would be far from alone, but…would she ever be able to go back to see Ayla, or forward to see Robo?

And that was, of course, only the beginning of it. What would happen to Glenn…?

"I'm sorry, Lucca," he said, seeing that he had upset her. "I thought that perhaps you would know, but I see you are trying not to think about it, as the rest of us."

She shook her head, trying to pretend otherwise. "No, it's because I don't know! And I've been trying to figure it out. But how am I supposed to know? We haven't done it yet!" Still trying to convince herself otherwise, she said under her breath, "The Gates won't work anymore."

Glenn turned away from Lucca, very downcast. "I hope not, Lady Lucca."

By that time, they had both finished their waters, and decided to continue trying to find Tata. Word had it that he had pretended to be the fabled Hero, and the pair wanted to get some information. And they wanted it now.

---

Schala slowly slipped back into her clothes once Dalton left. As usual, her tears fell freely. She knew the point was for her to dislike the punishment, but why did her mother make it that one? She'd prefer almost anything else besides that, she decided.

After a time, she stood up, walked over to her mirror, and began to brush out her hair. Dalton certainly liked to run his fingers through it. Unfortunate, because he always managed to put the worst tangles in it. Her brush snagged on a particular knot. Perhaps it was the anger caused by Magus, perhaps it was Dalton's fault, maybe it was the brush, or, most likely, it was everything together. Regardless of what caused it, Schala let out a piercing scream of frustration, threw her brush down on the floor, and cursed loudly.

This was the _last time_ her mother and Dalton would do this to her. She was sure of it.

---

Robo decided to give up on Ayla for a while. She simply wouldn't cooperate unless he pleased her again, and he refused, no matter how tempting it was. So, instead of sitting there contemplating whether or not it was right for him to be with her, he was querying his internal databases.

Finally, after a lengthy search (his hard drive needed to be cleaned up, it appeared; it was extremely cumbersome to search through the masses of data he carried within), he found what he was looking for.

It was lucky that, for a moment in the End of Time, Lucca had let him hold the Gate Key so she would not lose it while fighting Spekkio. In that time, he had analyzed it. It was equally lucky that at one point in their quest, Marle had let him see her pendant. Simultaneously looking at their material breakdowns, he was able to determine what both of them had—what they needed to get back through the Gate.

"Ayla, I will be back. I am going to see if I can get us back to the other humans."

She immediately turned around and stood up. "Ayla ready! Ayla want to adventure!"

"But you said that you would not do anything with me unless it were—how did you put it?—the 'happy thing'."

She frowned. "Ayla want happy thing, but want adventure too." She bounded up to the robot. "Where we go?"

"I'm not entirely sure. Do you know of any place where we can find placilite imagnious?" (A/N: I bet you couldn't tell that I made that up. :P)

"Use big words, Ayla no understand," she said.

He once again searched his database for a picture, but since he had no printer within him, he couldn't show it to Ayla directly. "Placilite imagnious is a silver stone, that, when broken, yields in equal parts pure silver and blue sapphire. We need these two components to get back to the others."

The prehistoric woman thought about it. "Silver rock, reptites have."

Internally, Robo groaned. "Reptites. How…fun."

---

Apparently Chrono had been travelling in a circular pattern without realizing it. He came upon the camp once again about an hour into his ponderings. As he got closer, he heard rather heated moans, and chose to take a wide circle around to avoid interrupting anything. Even in his depression, he knew how to be courteous.

He was approximately equidistant between the castle and their campsite when he looked back, toward the tent they had set up. What looked like a single silhouette showed up clearly against the canvas; he knew immediately that it was Magus and Marle.

His annoyance was immediately refreshed. How could they be so nonchalant about this entire affair? He and Schala were not going well, and that was just the start. Neither couple had even thought about where the other four might be, and of course they'd have to find them soon enough.

Without thinking, he took several angry steps toward the tent, then paused. He wondered if this was this really the best thing to do. But reason was forgotten as Marle shouted out, "Magus!" Not even worried about what he would see, he walked up to the tent, and tore the flap back.

The two now laid side by side, apparently done for the time being. Magus sat up, the sheet sliding down his chest and stopping at his waist, while Marle pulled the sheet up higher, covering her previously semi-exposed breasts.

"What the hell, Chrono?" Magus asked, still seeming totally calm about the situation.

He balled his hands into fists. "You bastard!" he cried angrily. "Here you are, fucking Marle like everything's okay! Your sister is obviously upset, and you just made it worse! She's gone back to the castle and is doing…who-knows-what!"

Still calmly, Magus said, "Well, if you stopped thinking about her so hard, Chrono, maybe you'd realize this isn't a crisis situation." Chrono tried to butt in, but Magus continued. "And I actually _do_ know what Schala is doing. You won't be happy with it—I'll admit that I'm not, either. But she could have avoided it, by not coming out here to be with you at all."

Chrono's eyes widened. "Okay, Magus, you win. What is Schala doing right now?"

He smirked. "I knew you'd come around. Well, right now, Schala is undoubtedly crying in the corner of her room."

"Why?" Chrono couldn't resist asking.

"Well, enough time has passed since she's been there for Dalton to…finish, if the timing is normal."

"Dalton is—Dalton did—that bastard!" Chrono said.

Marle sat up, holding the sheet above her breasts still. "Chrono, I'm sorry to ask, but are you done? We were busy, in case you didn't notice."

Magus rested his hand on the small of her back, evoking small chills from her. He turned his head and kissed her neck, hoping to get Chrono to leave.

"Just rub it in," he grumbled, but turned around and left the tent anyway.

"Now, where were we, baby?" Marle asked, sliding on top of Magus under the sheets as soon as Chrono had gone.

---

Schala stormed out of the castle towards the camp. Completely oblivious to the fact that Magus and Marle were still completely intimate, she ran up to the flaps and tore them back, much like Chrono. Once again the pair broke apart, Magus cursing softly.

"Is Chrono here?" she asked, looking around the tent, her eyes finally settling on Marle, who was wrapped in her brother's arms.

Magus answered instead. "He was just here, but I told him what you were really doing at the castle, and he got pissed. Although, I don't know what he did, or where he went…"

"Shit," she said under her breath. But, she still stood there in the doorway, her eyes trained on Marle. She was jealous of her, that was for sure. She wanted to make it as awkward as possible before leaving. No way would she just let them get on with it.

After a minute or so, she cleared her throat pointedly, and said directly at Marle, "I hope you two have _fun_." She left the tent, but stood outside for a moment to hear whether or not they had actually continued. Much to her chagrin, moments later she heard the undeniable slap of flesh to flesh.

She stalked off, angry at them both, to find Chrono and set up some revenge for her mother…eventually, anyway.

---

JT: This will probably be the only chapter that I put an endnote on, but seriously, I just have to assure you guys—this will be the last chapter where I'm trying to make you feel sorry for Schala. It's just getting excruciating writing her like that. She's getting _annoying_. Cry-cry this, boo-hoo that. massive eyeroll I mean, yeah. I know. I wrote her like that.


End file.
